The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-11/14/2014 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- No church too small for global missions, pastor says by Kate Gregory Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday EDITOR'S NOTES: This year's Week of Prayer for International Missions in the Southern Baptist Convention is Nov. 30-Dec. 7 with the theme of "One Sacred Effort -- Find your place in God's story" from Matthew 28:19-20 (HCSB). The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions in tandem with Cooperative Program gifts from Southern Baptist churches support approximately 4,800 international missionaries in seeking to fulfill the Great Commission. Gifts to the Lottie Moon offering are received through local Southern Baptist churches or online at imb.org/offering, where there are resources to promote the offering. This year's goal is $175 million. RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- After starting a church, the last thing on many pastors' minds would be how that church could immediately have a hand in starting more, especially great distances away. But when church planter Steve Gentry worked with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia and the North American Mission Board in 2009 to start Village Church at Midlothian, he led the Richmond-suburb church to form a missions partnership with a Southern Baptist couple serving in East Asia within the church's first year of existence. That year, the congregation numbered 12, then grew to 36. Getting involved in international missions when they had yet to establish themselves locally might have seemed out of order, but to Gentry, who grew up in Midlothian, that set the tone for the growth and reach of the congregation, which now numbers 300. And they have two overseas missions partnerships, the other with Southern Baptist missionaries in Peru. "Whatever you want the DNA of your church to be, you have to start from Day 1," Gentry said. The church finding their place in God's story meant them finding ways to reach the world, not only their community, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But how could a small church just starting out do that? Small churches can feel limited by their circumstances as to how much they can do or how far they can reach, Gentry said. But that doesn't have to be the case, especially with Southern Baptist congregations, he noted. Partner with other churches to do missions, Gentry advises smaller churches. Village Church partners with nearby Parkway Baptist Church in Moseley, Va., to send missions teams to Peru. "Even as a church plant, we can have missions efforts all over the world, through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering," Gentry said. "Because we get together as Southern Baptist churches to cooperate, we're able to fund long-term efforts that lead to long-term churches. "When I was worshipping in a church plant (started by Southern Baptist workers) all the way on the other side of the world, I understood where those dollars are going and what evangelistic efforts are being started simply because churches band together to support people long-term on the ground." Not left behind While in East Asia, Gentry began talking about God with a young atheist who had asked the pastor to help him improve his English. "He didn't believe that God even existed, because of the traditions that he'd been raised in," Gentry said. "I was able to discuss with him the reasons that I believe that God exists and compare them to the reasons that he didn't believe God existed." The night before Gentry's return to the U.S. the man told him, "'I can no longer say that I don't believe in God because I now do, and I believe that He brought you here to talk to me over this past week.' "The beauty of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering with this story is that I didn't have to simply leave him," Gentry said. "I was able to connect him with people who were going to live there fulltime, workers on the ground who started a Bible-believing church there, who were going to continue that relationship and continue to have an influence in his life for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "Because of our cooperative efforts there through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, I can continue to have an influence on him through the people there on the ground, through the church started by the workers there. And so while I'm not over there, our influence is still over there through those people." What I'm going to do with my life Gentry also got to know a new believer led to Christ by the church formed by Southern Baptist workers. "I asked him what he was going to do now that he had finished his master's degree in engineering. And he asked me if I had ever read Matthew 28 (the Great Commission)," Gentry said. "I laughed, and I don't think he understood why I was laughing because that's one of those texts that we often use in getting our people (believers) to live to make disciples. And I told him, 'Yeah, I've read that text.' And he said, 'Well, that's what I'm going to do with my life.'" The believer has begun inviting people from his work to go to church with him. "It was an inspiring story to understand how simple that living for the Gospel and giving your life to the Gospel was to this young man in a context where people don't readily have the Gospel available to them," Gentry said. "Not only can we give (to LMCO) and have an impact overseas, but those people's faith should influence how we live here in the United States. "It's exciting for our people (at church) to be a part of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, as well as giving toward the Cooperative Program, because we're able to give tangibly toward something that's going on all over the world, where missionaries are on the ground through what we're giving. They're fulltime, able to start churches, able to form relationships, able to get the Gospel to people who otherwise wouldn't be able to have it. That wouldn't happen without that type of influence and without that type of support." In every part of the globe Village Church's decision to jump right into missions involvement didn't mean that leap of faith didn't come without fear. When the church first considered a missions partnership with the couple serving in East Asia, "I think our fear and trepidation was that we were going to go into a culture that we didn't know anything about ... but what we found were the same types of people struggling with the same types of things that we're struggling with all the way on the other side of the globe." Though the ethnic and religious cultures of the area have been different for them to experience, the missions teams have realized they share a similar sub-culture with their East Asian people group -- living amid a city of young professionals. What young professionals often find themselves seeking after and being a slave to, no matter where they live, is the pursuit of materialism, Gentry said. That connection point has led to conversations about setting other, spiritual priorities that will enrich their families' lives. A staggering difference the missions teams have encountered is the sheer number of people contained within the same land area as their county in Virginia. "Rather than the 400,000 people we have here, there are 6 million people in the same amount of land that we encompass," Gentry said. Because of the challenge of reaching so many people with the Gospel, the church has decided that "rather than just taking mission trips, we want to be a part of seeing God plant churches," Gentry said. "So, we don't want to just take one trip to an area and then go somewhere else. Instead, we want to commit to a specific area so that over the years we can partner with the same people and see churches planted. "Without that type of relationship, we would just simply be having to do guess work as to what God is doing there, but we get updates frequently and we're able to communicate often with them so that we can continue to prepare and focus on what God wants to do next in East Asia." -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Missional culture engagement by Chas Rowland Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday VICKSBURG, Miss. (BP) -- The struggle to engage culture is more important in Mississippi than ever as the Human Rights Campaign has recently launched an aggressive homosexual marriage PR campaign of television commercials to run throughout the state. Amid this campaign, there is a subtle debate within Baptist life about the most Christ-honoring way to deal with the current "culture wars." As a pastor, I have seen at least two camps emerge within Baptist life. Each group is protecting important biblical principles as they engage the culture. However both seem ineffective in important ways. One group is focused on winning the culture war merely through political activism and reclaiming a moral majority. These Baptists maintain a clear and vocal position in the culture that is unwavering about the sin of homosexuality. To have moral clarity is always important, but in some cases this group can become focused on cultural nostalgia rather than winning lost souls to faith in Christ. A focus on morality that is divorced from the Gospel is ineffective. Gospel-less engagement can be perceived as unloving, unsympathetic and unwelcoming to those living in sin. With this approach, biblical marriage is defended but souls are not necessarily won to Jesus. Another group has acknowledged the cultural slide into sin but believes the fight to maintain a biblical view of marriage and sexuality within the culture is hopeless -- and ultimately distracting from our main focus of winning people to Jesus. To continue pressing the sexuality issue is a stumbling block to the lost and a hindrance to effective evangelism, this group believes. Neither of these approaches is biblical. Christian cultural engagement must involve both prophetic truth-telling and warm Gospel proclamation. It is not an either/or proposition. If we engage the culture in a way that speaks with biblical clarity along with a Christ-like love for souls, then the present cultural crisis can become a great opportunity for Gospel witness. We should not feel pressure to choose between challenging the culture's morality and doing evangelism. Both should come together in missional culture engagement. The societal pressure to normalize homosexual marriage is an opportunity to explain why biblical marriage is important. Such explanation is often missing from the current culture wars. Rather than merely drawing a line in the sand and firing shots at LGBT advocates, we should explain why biblical marriage matters. We can talk to homosexuals and those arguing for homosexual marriage about how marriage portrays the Gospel. Biblical marriage is after all God's greatest picture of Himself and His love for the church. Biblical marriage is also valuable because it illustrates the type of unity present within the Trinity; it is the mechanism for populating the earth; and it is God's way of providing man with a helper and life partner. Biblical marriage is all these things and so much more. In order for us to move from simply fighting a culture war to missional culture engagement, we must reject both simplistic anti-gay rhetoric and the temptation to ignore the conflict over homosexuality all together. It is only when we defend a biblical view of marriage by pointing to the Gospel that we are faithful and effective in fulfilling our missional purpose. This cultural crisis is an opportunity. Are we ready to embrace it for the glory of God and the sake of the Gospel? -------------------------------------------------------------------- Illinois Baptists hold 'Concert of Prayer' by Eric Reed & Meredith Flynn Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (BP) -- It was all about prayer. Messengers to the 108th annual meeting of the Illinois Baptist State Association Nov. 5-6 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield pled for spiritual awakening and revival, highlighted in a Concert of Prayer based on Isaiah 6. The 433 registered messengers also voted on officers for the coming year, welcomed new churches affiliating with IBSA and heard reports from IBSA entities. Vocal quintet Veritas led in worship during the Concert of Prayer, and attendees were led to pray through a four-phase cycle: lament, repent, intercede and commit. "I believe we need to cry out to God for spiritual awakening and for revival in our churches," IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams said as he opened the Concert of Prayer. Adams invited messengers and guests to lament the decline of their culture by moving to the walls of the room and using them as a sort of "wailing wall," not unlike the famous one in Jerusalem where Jews pray. Soon a chorus of voices praying aloud could be heard. "I've never been to the Wailing Wall, but knowing the purpose of the Wailing Wall and what it represents just kind of got me," Rick Dorsey, pastor of Beacon Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago Heights, said. "It hit me in the gut. And just made me lament that we are still struggling to reach a lost world and not doing everything that He needs us to do, that we need to do in order to reach this lost world." After a season of personal repentance, small groups interceded for lost people they knew personally. "'Spiritually refreshing' is the only way I can describe the wonderful Concert of Prayer we experienced Wednesday night," Adams said later. "Dozens and dozens of folks came to me afterward and told me how very much they needed it. In fact, many described it as the best thing they've ever experienced at an annual meeting." Preachers at the pastors' conference, which preceded the annual meeting, and the IBSA president's message emphasized spiritual awakening and revival. "The world is at its darkest, it's a mess -- in America, and sure enough in Illinois," Marvin Parker, pastor of Broadview Missionary Baptist Church near Chicago, said. "Darkness is covering our state, with same-sex marriage and more. It's messing with the fabric of the family." IBSA President Odis Weaver said, "If we're going to push back the darkness in Illinois and in our nation, we're going to have to get desperate. If we're going to push back the darkness, we have to ask the question, How desperate is my church for spiritual awakening? How hungry are our hearts?" In a phrase repeated by others several times, Weaver said, "We will either hunger for God's righteousness out of desperation or ... out of devastation." Church planting urgency In his report, Adams said that during the past year four new campus ministries began, the total number of registered Acts 1:8 churches rose to 260, and 140 pastors and leaders engaged in leadership development. Adams also challenged Illinois Baptists to plant more churches. Through August of this year, IBSA has helped start 16 new churches, down from 24 last year, he reported. "We are not satisfied with that level of church planting in Illinois, and it will not allow us to significantly impact the desperate need of the lost of Illinois [with] relevant new Baptist churches that can deliver the Gospel in their context," Adams said. Citing the need for more church planters and more church planting sponsor churches, Adams said, "Together, we must ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field, particularly in the area of the church planting in Illinois." Resolutions Messengers approved six resolutions brought by the IBSA Resolutions and Christian Life Committee: affirming the Bible's authority; encouraging prayer for elected officials; repenting of sinful choices related to media consumption; including younger leaders in denominational life; encouraging prayer for the Palestinian Church; and affirming the resolution on transgender identity approved by messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2014. A resolution on Common Core education standards was referred back to the committee for further study. Amendments postponed Leading up to the annual meeting, the IBSA Constitution Committee planned to ask messengers to suspend the rules of the IBSA constitution -- bypassing the usual two-year process for constitutional revisions -- to adopt a constitutional amendment allowing the Baptist Children's Home and Family Services to have its own bylaws, in compliance with Illinois not-for-profit law. "Upon further examination, however," Adams told the Illinois Baptist, "the committee came to believe that it would not be proper parliamentary procedure to apply the 'suspending of the rules' action that Robert's Rules of Order allows to the constitution itself. "Rather than go against the IBSA constitution's requirement for two readings at separate meetings, then, they decided that approval of separate Children's Home bylaws and revision of their articles of incorporation at the IBSA annual meeting would allow for legal compliance, and that a first reading of the proposed revisions to the IBSA constitution would be sufficient," Adams said. Messengers unanimously approved the new bylaws and articles of incorporation for BCHFS. "If the IBSA constitution is amended at the second reading next year, all the necessary documents will have been revised," Adams said. Budget Budgets from IBSA, BCHFS and the Baptist Foundation of Illinois were approved during the business session. IBSA's Cooperative Program goal for 2015 is $6.4 million -- a decrease from this year's $6.6 million goal -- with 43.25 percent designated for national and international SBC missions and ministries and 56.75 percent for Illinois missions and ministries. The budget includes 10 percent in shared expenses with the SBC. The association's four officers were each re-elected by acclamation: president, Weaver, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Plainfield; vice president, Kevin Carrothers, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rochester; recording secretary, Melissa Carruthers, a member of Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville; and assistant recording secretary, Patty Hulskotter, a member of Living Faith Baptist Church in Sherman. Messengers welcomed seven new churches affiliating with the association. IBSA's Credentials Committee also recommended during its report that the association disaffiliate with seven churches that have been non-cooperating for eight or nine years. Through the Ministers' Relief Offering, taken during the annual meeting for pastors facing unexpected transitions, Illinois Baptists gave $1,651. According to the 2013 IBSA Annual, the association includes 965 cooperating churches and missions with a membership of 212,608. The 2015 IBSA annual meeting and pastors' conference is scheduled for Nov. 10-12 at First Baptist Church in Marion. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Green's Bible museum construction nears by Diana Chandler Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday WASHINGTON (BP) -- Construction on the Museum of the Bible will begin by Dec. 1 as the final tenants leave the Washington D.C. site that will house the building just three blocks from the U.S. Capitol, museum board Chairman Steve Green said. Presenting the archeological evidence of the people, places and events of the Bible in a non-evangelistic way will hopefully prove the truth of the book, but leave people to decide for themselves whether to accept Jesus as Lord, Green told Baptist Press. "Evangelism would not be a direct result. The museum would be nonsectarian," Green said. "Our role is just to present the information. But I think that, and our hope is that, it would change peoples' lives, that they would realize that this book is something for them to consider and would embrace its principles and live accordingly." General contractor Clark Construction is already demolishing the interior of the former Washington Design Center that will house the museum, but will begin construction in earnest as the final tenants' leases expire. The eight-story, 430,000-square-foot museum is slated to open in 2017 with $800 million in assets. "We want to invite all people to engage with this book," Green said. "We think education is the first goal, for people to realize how this book has impacted their lives, and then consider the principles and apply them to their own lives because of the benefits that it brings." The museum will house the Green Collection, the world's largest private collection of rare biblical texts and artifacts, but will also feature additional exhibits designed to immerse visitors of all ages into interactive, biblically-based settings. The Green family, owners of the Hobby Lobby retail chain, amassed the collection over the past five years and has presented it to the public in a travelling exhibit that Green said has changed the lives of its viewers. "We've had many that have indicated -- and they've gone through our travelling exhibit -- it has strengthened their faith for example," Green said of his collection. "They are encouraged by the fact that they can actually see the evidence that shows that what they have been taught is accurate. We believe that many will be encouraged and their faith will be strengthened because of the evidence that is presented." "There have been many atheists, for example, when they are willing to just let the evidence lead to its natural conclusion" Green said, "I think it leads them to realize that this book is accurate in what it claims to be." The Bible's history, impact and narrative will comprise the main focus of the museum, Green said, showing the reliability of Scripture as a historical document. "I think the evidence shows that the Bible is accurate," Green said. "But we won't say it's accurate; we just present the information and we will let the visitor make their own decision." The museum will present the history of the Bible's narrative and show its impact on society, Green said. "The evidence will show that when we've applied [the biblical narrative] to principles, it has been good for society and again, that judgment we leave up to the visitor," he said. "[People] just need to know the story of the Bible. What is the narrative from Genesis to Revelation? [We aim] for the person that has never read it, that knows nothing, to have a basic understanding of what the Bible's message is, what it's narrative is." The museum will allow visitors to explore the Bible's impact on world culture and modern civilization, including literature, fine arts, architecture, education, science, film, music, family, government, law, human rights and social justice. Archaeological and historic treasures, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Torah scrolls, early New Testament texts, rare biblical manuscripts and first-edition Bibles will be included, said Cary Summers, the museum's chief operating officer. "We've assembled," Summers said in a press release, "the best in architectural, interior and environmental design to provide Museum of the Bible guests with an experience that is unique, innovative, customizable to each visitor's level of interest and, most of all, memorable." Exhibits will allow visitors to walk through a replica of first-century Nazareth; witness the preservation, translation and transmission of the Bible over time, from clay tablets revealing the earliest writings to today's digital Bible. Visitors will take a high-definition, sensory ride through history, offering dynamic encounters with historical people, places and events that changed the world. A state-of-the-art 1,000-seat lecture hall, a lobby with a floor-to-ceiling interactive media wall, a performing arts theater, a children's area, restaurants seating 500, and a rooftop garden with panoramic views of Washington are also planned. A real-time social media hub will allow visitors to download their own memories of the Bible. Joining Clark Construction in the museum project are The PRD Group, C&G Partners, and BRC Imagination Arts, while scholars, writers and museum experts are assembling artifacts and developing content for the museum's primary exhibits. The Green family purchased the museum site in 2012 for $50 million. The museum plans to charge a modest admission, Green said, though pricing has not been determined. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Brokenness, prayer characterize SBTC by Keith Collier and Sharayah Colter/The TEXAN Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday FORT WORTH (BP) -- Organizers of the 2014 Southern Baptists of Texas Convention's Bible Conference and Annual Meeting made clear from the outset that they desired for prayer and spiritual awakening to serve as the focus and priority. Throughout the three-day event, Nov. 9-11, that spirit of brokenness and desperate prayer appeared to wash over the gathering at MacGorman Chapel on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. Dedicated prayer times peppered the entire SBTC meeting, from Sunday night to Tuesday. Leaders repeatedly assured attendees that they believe a fresh movement of God -- and one that will truly shake American churches from a national slumber -- will come only when Christians get on their knees, humble themselves and desperately seek God. Speakers reminded leaders that they bear the responsibility of modeling and leading out in that change. Southern Baptists of Texas Convention President Jimmy Pritchard challenged messengers to contend "as one man" for spiritual awakening during his president's address, Nov. 10. "We are spoiled," Pritchard said. "The Great Commission has shifted to be the Great Convenience. Our problem is not in structure. It's in our heart." Pritchard said a call to spiritual awakening is born out of prayer and announced that he will be holding times of prayer in every region of Texas during 2015. "We'll find out if we really want spiritual awakening by who comes to those prayer meetings," Pritchard said, adding, "Talk is cheap." Attendance at this year's meeting included 981 registered messengers from 360 churches and 930 registered guests for a total of 1,911 representing 391 churches. Participation was estimated at well over 2,000 considering the number of unregistered seminary participants. The SBTC is made up of more than 2,500 affiliated churches. In addition to extended times of prayer for revival and spiritual awakening, messengers also conducted business, adopted resolutions, approved a 2015 budget, and elected officers. Business During the annual meeting, messengers completed a two-year process of approving revisions to the SBTC constitution and bylaws, which included updated language for consistency and clarity, methods of affiliation, messenger representation and quorum requirements. Bylaws revisions can be made at a single annual meeting, but changes to the constitution require approval at two consecutive annual meetings. During the 2013 annual meeting in Amarillo, messengers approved revisions to both, with bylaws changes dependent on the final approval of the constitution. Messengers approved the constitution again during the 2014 meeting, completing the revisions approval process. Messengers also approved a motion to increase the size of the Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation board of directors from seven to as many as 12. The SBTC executive board also honored Jimmy Draper with the Paul Pressler Award for Distinguished Denominational Service. Draper received the honor for his excellence in leadership and service as a pastor in eight Southern Baptist churches, as president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1982-84, and as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources from 1991-2006, and as interim president of Criswell College from 2013-14. Resolutions Messengers passed seven resolutions that addressed compassionate evangelism, gambling, gender identity, legislation supporting women's and children's health, pornography and religious liberty as well as a resolution of appreciation to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for hosting the meeting. Budget Messengers approved a 2015 budget of $27,488,059, which is a 1.25 percent increase from 2014. This budget is funded by $27,136,059 in Cooperative Program gifts and $352,000 from partnerships with the North American Mission Board and LifeWay Christian Resources. The convention continues to send 55 percent of its budget for SBC Cooperative Program ministries, while designating 45 percent for Cooperative Program ministries in Texas. Election of Officers Jimmy Pritchard, pastor of First Baptist Church of Forney was re-elected for a second term as convention president. Sookwan Lee, pastor of Seoul Baptist Church in Houston was elected vice president. Dante Wright, pastor of Sweet Home Baptist Church in Round Rock, was re-elected as recording secretary. All nominees ran unopposed. 2015 Annual Meeting The 2015 Bible Conference and Annual Meeting of the SBTC will take place Nov. 8-10 at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston. Messengers approved Mark Estep, pastor of Spring Baptist Church in Spring, to deliver the 2015 convention sermon, with Bill Jones, executive director of the Neches River Baptist Association, as the alternate. -------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL TO PRAYER: A place of grace for prayer by Ralph Tone Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday PHOENIX (BP) -- My daughter has been serving God overseas for many years. When we see her after a long absence, it's usually at an airport. When we say goodbye after a short visit, it's usually at an airport. We've started an airport tradition. We call it the Great Commission Prayer Corner. It began one day at the Nashville airport on a brown bench just outside security. There were pictures on the wall of coffee from Africa and Central America. It was a quiet corner in the midst of a sea of travelers. A long flight awaited her followed by a quick plunge into the deep, turbulent waters of a distant world, and we had much to pray about. After we prayed together we watched as she went through security and headed to her gate. Now, whenever I'm at the Nashville airport, I head for our "Great Commission Prayer Corner." There are no signs or directions, but it doesn't matter because I know the place by heart. These memorable places can only be found by heart. The pictures from Africa and Central America are still there, and my two or three minutes of prayer on that brown bench for my daughter are rich. It is a special place. At the Phoenix airport our Great Commission Prayer Corner is a nondescript round metal table under a WWI fighter hanging from the ceiling. Prayer has made that unremarkable place a special place as well. Any old place can be transformed by His grace. It's not that the place itself is so special, as if it were a shrine where we lay flowers and light candles. It is the God we meet there that is special. It is He we venerate -- not a space or place. The Israelites gave these God-meeting places names. Jacob, for example, baptized his ordinary place transformed by God's grace "Bethel," which means house of God (Genesis 28:10-21). Where is your memorable God Meeting Place? Is it the lawn in front of the kindergarten where you knelt and prayed for your little girl on her first day of school? Maybe it's that kitchen table where you led your son in prayer to receive Jesus Christ. Now, when you drive by that school or sit at that table, you cannot help but reach out in prayer for your child again. Any old place can be a special place if we meet God there. And the truly remarkable thing is that God is in every place at all times. The place where you are. Right now. God is there. Right now. Why not take a moment and visit with Him. Invite those you're with to join you. You just might discover a new favorite place, transformed by His grace. Thank you, Lord, for making any old place a place of grace. -------------------------------------------------------------------- HRC: A formidable force for LGBT cause by Tom Strode Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Human Rights Campaign brings a notable track record of helping alter public opinion on homosexuality. Now it has set its sights on persuading Baptists and other Mississippians that homosexuality is compatible with Christianity. The country's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization unveiled its "All God's Children" public relations campaign Nov. 10. The drive to increase public and legislative support for LGBT rights is focused on faith in a state Gallup pollsters found early this year to be the most religious in the country. "We want to successfully engage a majority of Mississippians on the issue of LGBT equality," Jason Rahlan told Baptist Press in an email interview. He is communications director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). "This suggests that the best way to do so is to speak -- authentically and from the heart -- in the context of faith. As this campaign has shown and will continue to show, we're doing just that." Many of the Mississippians targeted by HRC are Baptists. While HRC's working estimate for all Baptists in the state is 55 percent of the population, Southern Baptists constitute 22 to 30 percent of Mississippi residents. The Mississippi Baptist Convention reported nearly 664,000 members in its churches in 2013. The Association of Religion Data Archives showed in 2010 about 907,000 Southern Baptists among a state population of 2.99 million. Seeking to convert so many Baptists and other conservative Christians would appear to be a losing proposition for a LGBT group, considering the Bible's clear teaching that sex is reserved for a man and a woman in marriage. HRC, however, seems to think a worthwhile payoff is possible from the $310,000 campaign. "To HRC, the South embodies the sort of thinking about LGBT rights that is the problem," John Stonestreet, speaker and fellow with the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, said. "To be successful [in the South] would go a long way to selling the 'historical inevitability' argument we so often hear" about acceptance of LGBT rights. HRC acknowledges the campaign in Mississippi may be the forerunner of others in the South. "'All God's Children' was also built to test a replicable model that can be used to move people of faith on LGBT issues throughout the South in the future," Rahlan told BP. "And if we find success in this Mississippi campaign, we will absolutely consider similar efforts in other states as well." HRC already has a campaign that reaches beyond faith communities to promote the LGBT cause in the Deep South. Announced in April, its Project One America seeks to bolster LGBT equality in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi. HRC has committed $8.5 million for the first three years of what it calls "permanent campaigns" in those states -- and 20 staff members. No pro-LGBT laws exist at the state or local level in Alabama and Mississippi, and only one city in Arkansas has such an ordinance. The citizens of Fayetteville, Ark., will vote Dec. 9 on whether to overturn it. In addition, the constitutions of all three states bar same-sex marriage. Described by an online LGBT publication as "the nation's 10,000-pound, gay charity gorilla," HRC gives every indication of being in the struggle for the long term with the resources necessary for such an effort. Founded in 1980 as a political action committee, HRC has amassed -- especially during the last two decades -- the support from within the government, corporations, media and popular culture needed to sustain a perpetual push for its cause. The Southern Baptist Convention's lead ethicist said campaigns like that of HRC's effort in Mississippi "will only continue." "Red states and Bible Belts do not provide adequate protection from these cultural trends," Russell D. Moore said when the "All God's Children" campaign was launched. Moore is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Instead, efforts to gain acceptance of the LGBT cause, including same-sex marriage, call for particular responses from Baptists and other evangelicals, leading commentators said. Churches must be "preaching and articulating a Christian vision of sexuality as rightly expressed in the one-flesh union of a man and a woman," Moore said. Preaching and teaching "must not stop at morals but go on to show how marriage is rooted in the Gospel, as a picture of Christ and the church. And our churches must be, like Jesus and His apostles, those who call for repentance of sin and those who offer mercy to all who come to Christ in repentance and faith," he said.  In an email interview with BP, Stonestreet recommended a three-fold response: -- "First, churches need to clearly teach the inherent dignity of all people, because we are made in the image of God. When Christians respond to the LGBT community without that undergirding everything else we say and do, we inadvertently endorse a very bad anthropology that is at the root of our sexual confusion. -- "Second, we need to teach a solid theology of sexuality and gender. Christians say "no" to various expressions of sexual sin because of God's great, brilliant gift of sexuality. This has to be understood. -- "Third, the church should find ways to reach out to, and truly love, members of the LGBT community. If we are honest, 'love the sinner, hate the sin' is a bad mantra, and we've done a whole lot more hating the sin than ever loving the sinner. We must find ways to love, without endorsing behavior that is biblically described as sinful." Moore and Stonestreet both spoke on such issues at the ERLC's National Conference in late October on "The Gospel, Homosexuality and the Future of Marriage." Other concerns accompany the church's response to the advance of LGBT rights, evangelical leaders said. Religious liberty and the beliefs of millennials are among those, said Chelsen Vicari, evangelical action director at the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Millennials -- those born beginning in the early 1980s -- support same-sex marriage at a nearly 70 percent rate overall. Millennial evangelicals back such unions by a much smaller percentage but still to an extent that concerns Vicari, who, at 27, is one of them. HRC's message of compatibility between homosexuality and Christianity is succeeding because millennials "know that if we affirm sexuality as defined by God and reserved for marriage between one man and one woman, then dissenters will be outnumbered, ostracized, dubbed bigoted and uncompassionate," she said in an email interview with BP. "So it's easier to compromise rather than speak up. "HRC will continue to dictate culture and millennials will continue to buy into that culture rather than Christianity unless faithful Christians commit to 'speak the truth in love' as the Apostle Paul instructed us in Ephesians 4:15," Vicari said. "Both truth and love are necessary components Christians must employ if we want to take back the culture, demonstrate Christian leadership to the rising generation and spread the Gospel. Simply put, we must love others enough to tell them about God's truths." The "All God's Children" campaign is troubling, Vicari told BP, because "it expects Christians to suppress our convictions for the sake of others' feelings." She expressed concern HRC wants to achieve "total asphyxiation of faithful Christians' convictions" in a state that protects religious freedom, including the right of small business owners to decline to participate in same-sex ceremonies. At times, HRC gives attention to disparaging some of those who oppose the expansion of LGBT rights, including gay marriage. Its website includes a report on "exporters of hate," those Americans who are working to help other countries resist the effort to enact LGBT rights. Among this "network of American extremists" -- some shown in drawings that are similar to sketches of criminal suspects – are Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, Benjamin Bull of Alliance Defending Freedom, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel and Janice Shaw Crouse of Concerned Women for America's Beverly LaHaye Institute. HRC criticized Focus on the Family in a Nov. 13 blog post titled "10 Things You Should Know About Focus on the Family." Two Focus staff members -- President Jim Daly and Glenn Stanton -- urged attendees at the recent ERLC national conference to develop friendships with and love those who disagree with them on LGBT issues, including same-sex marriage. HRC acknowledged and commended the tone of Daly and Stanton's comments in its post. Resistance to the cause promoted by HRC and its allies has declined in recent years in the face of mounting LGBT accomplishments. On its website, HRC counts these among its victories: -- Favorable rulings by the Supreme Court in June 2013, one which invalidated a section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as only between a man and a woman. -- Expansion of legalized gay marriage, now in 32 states and the District of Columbia. -- HRC's endorsement of Bill Clinton for the presidency in 1992 -- a first for the organization -- and the first meeting by LGBT leaders with a sitting president after Clinton took office. -- Its two-time endorsement of President Obama and his speech to HRC's national dinner in 2009. -- Repeal in 2011 of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which barred open homosexuals from military service. The mounting victories for HRC and other LGBT organizations have coincided with growing support from the public, politicians, celebrities, corporations and other sectors of American society -- as well as greater funding. HRC counts 1.5 million members and supporters. The combined revenue and support for HRC and its foundation in its latest annual report was more than $53 million. Among its "celebrity supporters" are Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Pink, Sally Field and Jennifer Hudson. HRC's top tier of national corporate partners includes American Airlines, Apple, Citibank, Microsoft and Nationwide Insurance. Other corporate partners include Bank of America, BP (British Petroleum), Chevron, Coca-Cola, Dell, Google, Hershey's, IBM, Macy's, MetLife, Nike, Orbitz, PepsiCo, Shell, Showtime, Starbucks and Whirlpool. The organization -- which has 150 employees in its Washington, D.C., headquarters and more in the field -- runs a variety of programs and projects simultaneously. They include the Religion and Faith Program; Children, Youth and Families Program; and the Coming Out Project, which helps people who begin to live openly as LGBT. HRC also charts LGBT advances in a variety of categories. It compiles annual indexes on corporate equality, municipal equality, and healthcare equality. It also documents voting on LGBT issues by members of Congress and tracks state laws and policies. HRC's Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which rates businesses based on their policies regarding LGBT employees, has shown the rapid progress in that sector of American society. The 2014 index gave scores of 100 percent to 304 companies of the 734 ranked. Only 13 businesses received a score of 100 in the first CEI in 2002. The CEI rankings provide information for HRC's Buyer's Guide, which is designed to help consumers know where businesses stand on LGBT issues and shop accordingly. For instance, in the "Oil & Gas" category, Chevron ranked at the top this year with 100 percent, while ExxonMobil was at -25. In "Health & Beauty," Avon gained a 100 score, and Mary Kay received a zero. The LGBT advance has been especially pronounced among the country's largest corporations. Of the Fortune 500 companies, the percentage with "sexual orientation" in their non-discrimination policies has grown from 61 to 91 percent since 2002. The percentage with "gender identity" in their policies has ballooned from three to 61 percent in that time span. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Pro-choice advocates challenge Amendment 1 win by Staff Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday NASHVILLE (BP) -- "Absurd" is how state election officials are describing a legal challenge to the success of Amendment 1 in Tennessee, a constitutional provision that allows lawmakers to regulate how and where abortions are performed in the state. Amendment 1 passed in Nov. 4 mid-term elections with 52.6 percent of the vote. Days later, eight pro-choice advocates filed suit in federal district court challenging the results, contending the votes were tabulated incorrectly. Lead plaintiff is Tracey E. George, chairman of the board of Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee. But George has said the suit is not a Planned Parenthood initiative. "Planned Parenthood is not funding the lawsuit, and were not happy when they did not get a heads-up about what we were doing," George told the Nashville Tennessean newspaper. "These folks are people I know who were willing to make the sacrifice to be a plaintiff." George is director of the Cecil D. Branstetter Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program at Vanderbilt University, and plaintiffs' attorneys include Bill Harbison, president-elect of the Tennessee Bar Association, Dewey and Hunter Branstetter, and Phillip Cramer. According to Article XI, Section 3 of the Tennessee constitution, proposed amendments to the constitution can only pass by obtaining more than half of the votes cast in the governor's race. "And if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments by a majority of all the citizens of the state voting for governor, voting in their favor, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of this Constitution," the constitution reads. Plaintiffs in the suit contend that, according to the constitution, votes for the amendment are only valid if those voting for it also cast a vote in the governor's race. That's not true, state elections officials told the Nashville Tennessean newspaper. Secretary of State Tre Hargett said the state has never counted votes the way the plaintiffs insist. "I'm not sure why they filed this in federal court," Secretary of State Tre Hargett told the Tennessean. "People have the right to vote or not vote in the governor's race. It does not make sense any other way." The plaintiffs charge that proponents of Amendment 1 encouraged supporters to skip voting in the governor's race and vote for the amendment, to improve the amendment's chance of passage. A total of 32,570 more votes were cast in the amendment race than in the gubernatorial race. According to the plaintiff, those votes should not be counted, because the voters did not participate in the gubernatorial race. Mark Goins, Tennessee coordinator of elections and a defender in the case, said there is no system in place to count votes the way the plaintiffs insist. "It is absurd, not a normal argument," The Tennessean quoted Goins. "We have to audit every voting machine across the state, and visibly look to see whether we can. If we can, we have to do a hand count of every ballot." The amendment won by more than 70,000 votes, with an exact count of 728,751 to 656,427. Votes cast in the gubernatorial race totaled 1,352,608. Based on the participation in the governor's race, the amendment needed only 676,305 affirmative votes to win, according to the Secretary of State's office. The U.S. District Court in Nashville is set to receive the first hearing in the case on Jan. 12, 2015, according to the Tennessean. --30-- Compiled by Diana Chandler, General Assignment Writer/Editor for Baptist Press, the Southern Baptist Convention's news service. BP reports on missions, ministry and witness advanced through the Cooperative Program and on news related to Southern Baptists' concerns nationally and globally. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP). -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020 update relayed to Louisiana convention by Philip Timothy/Louisiana Baptist Message Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday LAFAYETTE, La. (BP) -- The challenges ahead are plentiful but early results are proving both encouraging and exciting, messengers to the 167th annual meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Convention were told in the first progress report on the President's 2020 Commission. "This vision is not about us, it is not about our glory," LBC President Steve Horn said during his report to the convention on the first night of the Nov. 10-11 meeting at First Baptist Church in Lafayette. "Put simply, it's all about God's glory. Our motivation must be that God gets all of the glory." (See addendum after this story for further comments by Horn to the convention.) LBC Executive Director David Hankins led off the Monday night session by giving messengers an update on the progress being made to engage the next generation and every people group. "There are more than 2 million [2,240,000] people in Louisiana who do not have a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ," Hankins said. "We want to change that and we are doing so intentionally and lovingly by engaging those people. "We have developed a seven-year strategy in which we have identified two audiences, four avenues and 10 action plans which will enable us to do so," Hankins continued. "We know we need to be speaking the same language but we must also learn the language. Engagement has a price, Hankins said, "but it is a price we must be willing to pay if we are to succeed." In speaking about the convention's Next Generation Task Force, Kevin Boles, LBC youth strategist, reminded messengers that more than 8,000 teens and their leaders would be at the upcoming Youth Evangelism Conference in Lafayette's Cajundome. "With teenagers making up 25 percent of Louisiana's population, reaching the next generation with the Gospel is a priority and the key to Gospel success for the future," Boles said. James Jenkins, director of church planting for the LBC, described how "Louisiana is 60 percent Anglo [and] 32 percent African American with 300 years of troubled history, 5 percent Hispanic from 11 countries of origin and common language, 2 percent Asian from 11 countries of origin with no common language and 1 percent other. "Together we are working to reach all of these people," Jenkins said. Since 2010 Louisiana Baptists have planted 90 churches resulting in 5,982 professions of faith and 1,300 baptisms. The 2020 Commission made planting churches a major priority, with a goal of 300 new churches originally set. However, John Hebert, the convention's mission and ministries director, told messengers a new goal of 371 churches being planted by 2020. "Why plant new churches? Because one out of every two Louisiana residents surveyed indicated no 'personal relationship' with Jesus Christ. That means over 2,244,000 people are without Christ," Hebert said. "New churches open up new fronts on the spiritual & cultural needs in every community." Already 51 church planting projects and 56 compassion ministry projects for 2015 have been approved by the Louisiana Baptists Missions Support Committee. To date 2014, Louisiana Baptists have started 24 churches, eight more than last year's total of 16. Those plants have resulted in 1,302 decisions to accept Christ and 313 baptisms. Messengers also heard about congregational revitalization, church planting, communication and collaboration. Wayne Jenkins, the convention's evangelism and church growth director, told messengers, "Our light has become dim. It's time our light shines again through the darkness. … We have developed a number of resources we can use to help your church." Communications director John Kyle updated messengers regarding the "Highways & Hedges" media initiative that launched in southwest Louisiana in July. "The spots have aired more than 1,800 times on broadcast and cable TV," Kyle said. "They have generated 38,000 online views; 181 searches for area churches; 2.12 million impressions; and 2,400 delivered clicks via Facebook. We are planning to launch in the northeast this month and in northwest and central Louisiana in 2015." Hankins wrapped up his executive director's report by challenging messengers, "We can no longer sit around and wish for the past to come back. If we do so, we will miss the present. … "I use to love watching the TV show 'Rawhide,'" Hankins commented. "It was a western and had these cowboys driving cattle all over the country. When there was a stampede, these cowboys would get on both sides and try to turn the herd before it plummeted off the cliff. Folks, our culture is stampeding toward the cliff and we need people to turn this stampede and get it moving back in the right direction. "This is my 10th report to you. It started with Katrina," Hankins said. "A lot has been done but we still have a lot to do. The 2020 report gives us a good handle on what is left to be done." Elections & budget Horn, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lafayette, was re-elected by acclamation to a second one-year term as the convention's president. Also elected by acclamation were Lonnie Tucker, pastor of Still Water Baptist Church in Hammond, and Joe Senn, pastor of Crockett Point Baptist Church in Crowville, as first and second vice presidents, respectively. Messengers approved a $20,831,766 Cooperative Program budget for 2014, down $894,632 from 2013. The LBC's allocation of 36.74 percent -- or $7,653,591 -- will be sent to Southern Baptist Convention missions and ministry through the Cooperative Program. Resolutions, motions Messengers affirmed seven resolutions, with only Resolution No. 2 drawing any debate over encouraging the ending of government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries. Aubry Henkel, pastor of administration and development from Fellowship Church in Prairieville, sought to postpone passage of the resolution for one year to allow pastors time to teach about greed and not working for one's money. "I am not against the resolution, in fact, I am very much for it," Henkel said. "I would just like to postpone the passage in order to give our pastors time, a year, to instruct our congregations on this subject." Fellowship Church lead pastor Kirk Jones supported Henkel's motion, saying, "The spiritual battle that we are facing won't be won on the floor of the Louisiana legislature." Richard Shreve, pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Jonesboro, and Roy Davis, pastor of North Shreve Baptist Church in Shreveport, spoke in support of the resolution. Messengers defeated Henkel's motion to postpone passage of the resolution. The other resolutions, which passed without comment, opposed any attempt to recognize or advance transgender equity; denounced the practice of aggressive groups who seek to diminish religious liberty on college campuses; offered prayer and support for those suffering religious persecution and political oppression; offered prayer and support for pregnancy care centers in Louisiana; offered support for the five Houston pastors in their stand against unconstitutional action of having their sermons and church communications subpoenaed by the Houston city government; and expressed appreciation for hospitality and assistance related to the annual meeting. The convention's Executive Committee declined to recommend any action on a 2013 motion by Lewis Richerson of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Baton Rouge that questioned the role of the executive director as a voting member of the convention committees, the executive board and various entity agency boards. The Executive Committee also declined to recommend any action regarding a motion made by Jay Adkins, messenger from First Baptist Church in Westwego, concerning the charters of the LBC boards and LBC governing documents regarding the role of the executive director as a voting member of convention committees, the Executive Board and various entity boards. A motion by Ken Fryer, a messenger and staff member at Heritage Baptist Church in Shreveport, asking the LBC to allow for questions at the report times of the four entities and the executive director's report was sent to the LBC Order of Business Committee. Committee chairman John Carrigan, pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church in Prairieville, said they understood Fryer's motion was just for the 2014 LBC annual meeting. Therefore, they crafted a substitute motion to allow a question-and-answer time during the reports of the four entities and the executive director for all future annual meetings. The motion passed. Messengers also passed a bylaw change recommended by the LBC Executive Board that the duties of the Louisiana Baptist history committee be assigned to the state mission services staff and the committee be deleted and the permanent plan of organization of the convention and its committees and boards be amended to reflect the change. LBC Executive Committee President Bobby Stults presented Hankins and his wife Patty on the "occasion of his 10th anniversary as Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention" with a plaque and an arrangement of roses. The resolution, passed by the Executive Board at its fall meeting, stated the board's gratitude "for Hankins' ministry, consistent walk with Christ, his commitment to the work and ministry of the LBC," and it pledged to lift him in prayer and support "for the causes of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, throughout our state and convention." The 2015 annual meeting will be Nov. 9-10 at First Baptist Church in Bossier City. Kirk Jones, pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Prairieville, will bring the convention sermon. Bob Adams, retired pastor of First Baptist Church in Bogalusa, will serve as the alternate. Benji Harlan, Louisiana Baptist Convention church music consultant, will serve as music director. Speakers Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, led all three sessions of Bible study from chapters 11-14 in the book of Acts. "The Holy Spirit is the central character in the book of Acts," Iorg said, "and He should be central in your ministry and the life you lead." In his convention sermon, Leland Crawford, pastor of First Baptist Church in Minden, reminded messengers that everything comes down to the "crucified Christ." His message, drawn from 1 Corinthians 1:23, was titled "The Message We Must Preach." As part of his message, Crawford drew from Max Lucado's book "In the Eye of the Storm" to messengers: "When those who are called to fish don't fish, they fight. When energy intended to be used outside is used inside, the result is explosive. Instead of casting nets, we cast stones.... Instead of being fishers of the lost; we become critics of the saved." Jay Dennis, pastor of First Baptist Church in the Mall in Lakeland, Fla., sounded the alarm in the convention's closing message about the growing epidemic of pornography, which has engulfed the country. Using a large, stuffed pink elephant as an illustration, Dennis told messengers that people, pastors and churches can't ignore the pink elephant in the room -- pornography -- that is destroying both people and family's lives. "Pastors are unaware of the people struggling with porn," said Dennis, who is leading the Join 1 Million Men initiative asking men and women to make a commitment to live pornography-free lives. "The church must not pretend like this is not an issue because it is. When asked about their current relationship with porn, 30 percent considered themselves to be an addict. "You and I are in a daily hand-to-hand fight against porn," Dennis said. "We must all hit this epidemic head on rather than try to ignore it." --30-- Philip Timothy is managing editor of the Baptist Message, newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Following are extended comments by Louisiana Baptist Convention President Steve Horn during the LBC's Nov. 10-11 meeting in Lafayette regarding the President's 2020 Commission: "This vision is not about us, it is not about our glory," Horn said in his report to the convention on the first night of the Nov. 10-11 meeting. "Put simply, it's all about God's glory. Our motivation must be that God gets all of the glory. Quite frankly, I don't really want to be a part of anything if God does not receive the glory." Horn challenged and encouraged Louisiana Baptists to maximize their effectiveness in Gospel ministry by getting engaged. "If we want to be God's church -- God's convention of churches -- our heartbeat must be His heartbeat -- and His heartbeat is for the world to know Him," Horn said. "That is why it is so important we engage Louisiana." He challenged messengers to believe, declare and build ministry around the Gospel. "We must declare this message to the next generation because it is a God-given command. From the very beginning, God has commanded His people to reach the next generation," Horn continued. "As we read in the Old Testament [Psalm 71], the failing of Israel was not that the first generation to enter the Promised Land disobeyed, it was that they failed to pass their faith on to the next generation. As has been said many times before me, 'We are only one generation away from extinction.' "So, yes, we must find ways to reach this new generation," Horn said. "We have an obligation to reach the children because this generation can be the catalyst for reaching the world." Citing from research by George Barna [founder of The Barna Group, a research firm specializing in studying the religious beliefs and behavior of Americans], Horn pointed out the importance of reaching children. "Some of you have heard this research before but I think it is good we hear them again," he said. "Barna concluded that those between the ages of 5 and 13 have a 32 percent probability [of accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior]; individuals in the 14 to 18 age range have a 4 percent probability; and people between the ages of 19 and death have a 6 percent chance. "In other words, we have the greatest window of opportunity for reaching people with the Gospel before they reach their teenage years. The chances of seeing their spiritual life change after that point are relatively slim," Horn said. "As each of us grows older, some sobering realities begin to be evident. One of those sobering realities is that our time is running out to reach the world," Horn said. "According to the text [Psalm 71:18], we must take this message to the next generation, then to everyone who is to come. "Here is how this text speaks to me. If we are going to reach the world, some of us have to admit that our best chance is to reach the next generation," Horn said. "It will be them not us that reaches the world. If we are going to be faithful in doing our part to reach the world, we must reach the next generation." So, how does he believe this should take place? He told those in attendance that the same Gospel must be preached to all the nations. "There is a progression in the communication of the Gospel which is why our churches must be missionary training centers," Horn said. "It is going to take compassion, commitment and cooperation. We live in the greatest age of missions." -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL: Reflexiones del pasado y presente sobre la Reforma en Hispano América by Por Octavio Javier Esqueda Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday NOTA DEL EDITOR: La columna First-Person (De primera mano) es parte de la edición de hoy de BP en español. Para ver historias adicionales, vaya a http://www.bpnews.net/espanol. LA MIRADA, Calif. -- Hace unos días tuve el privilegio de participar en el IV Congreso sobre la Reforma Protestante Española que tuvo lugar en la Facultad de Filosofía de la Universidad Complutense en Madrid, España. Este importante congreso internacional tuvo como tema principal la Reforma en Hispano América. Entre los participantes se encontraban profesores, historiadores y eruditos para dialogar acerca de la influencia del protestantismo en América Latina y su relación con la reforma española. Aunque el número de participantes no eran tan numeroso, el significado de esta reunión y los temas tratados son de suma importancia y son relevantes para nuestros días. Me gustaría compartir en este espacio algunas reflexiones sobre el pasado y el presente basadas principalmente en los temas tratados en este congreso. Antes del inicio del congreso pude pasar una tarde conociendo la bella ciudad de Segovia, al noroeste de Madrid. Segovia es la capital de la provincia de Castilla y León y es un lugar con muchos siglos de historia. Fue cuna y sede de muchos reyes importantes como Alfonso X, el Sabio, e Isabel la Católica quien fue proclamada reina de Castilla el 13 de diciembre de 1474. Al casarse con el rey Fernando de Aragón lograron unificar sus reinos y eventualmente conquistar al reino nazarí de Granada y expulsar de España a los judíos y árabes. De esta manera, impusieron el castellano como idioma y el catolicismo como la religión oficial. De hecho, el Papa Alejandro VI les otorgó el título de "Católicos" por lo que se les conoce como los "Reyes Católicos". Al patrocinar el viaje de Cristóbal Colón que lo llevó a "descubrir" el continente americano, estos reyes promovieron la llegada del catolicismo a hispano américa y lo convirtieron en la única religión oficial. Esta situación continuó así por más de tres siglos en la mayoría de los países hispanoamericanos. El Rey Carlos I de lo que ahora es España, nieto de los Reyes Católicos, también fue Carlos V, Emperador del Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico. A este rey le tocó el surgimiento del Protestantismo en Alemania guiado por Martín Lutero. Al ver que Alemania y muchas partes de Europa empezaron a sufrir la división entre católicos y protestantes, el emperador Carlos decidió "blindar" a España del protestantismo y las ideas luteranas. La Inquisición fue el instrumento del Estado para evitar que los luteranos, como se les conocía a los protestantes, pudieran surgir en España y sus colonias. Durante el congreso, la historiadora Alicia Mayer presentó su libro "Lutero en el Paraíso" en el que documenta cómo para el gobierno y la iglesia española la ausencia del protestantismo significaba proteger al que creían era un paraíso en donde el catolicismo romano reinaba sin ninguna oposición. Constantino Ponce de la Fuente fue uno de los principales reformadores españoles. Fue el canónigo predicar de la Catedral de Sevilla, además de profesor de Biblia y capellán del emperador Carlos V. Al estudiar la Biblia se convenció que la salvación que Jesucristo ofrece es solamente por la gracia divina y que se recibe por la fe y no por obras. Constantino fue uno de los líderes de la iglesia secreta cristiana en Sevilla hasta que fue descubierto por la Inquisición. Murió antes que se terminara su juicio por lo que cuando éste concluyó, sus restos fueron exhumados para después ser quemados en la hoguera mediante un juicio público conocido como auto de fe. Constantino escribió varios libros entre los que destaca su Doctrina Cristiana. El profesor José Luis Villacañas hizo una excelente exposición acerca de cómo el primer obispo de la Nueva España, Juan de Zumárraga, divulgó la Doctrina Cristiana de Constantino, sin darle crédito por cierto, como un instrumento para la evangelización de los indígenas. Esta Doctrina enfatizaba que el eje fundamental para la transmisión de la fe cristiana era los padres, incluso con la ayuda de algún tutor si fuera necesario y no las instituciones formales. De esta manera, a través de Zumárraga las ideas teológicas del reformador Constantino fueron esparcidas en México aunque haya sido por un poco de tiempo. No fue sino hasta después de la independencia de los países hispano americanos de España que poco a poco el protestantismo fue abriéndose paso en las sociedades que solamente conocían el catolicismo romano como la única religión permitida. De hecho, por ejemplo, en México no fue sino hasta la constitución de 1857 que se permitió la libertad de culto y el catolicismo dejó de ser la religión oficial. En Cuba esto no sucedió sino hasta 1898 al finalizar la guerra de independencia contra España y Cuba estuvo por un tiempo bajo el control de los Estados Unidos. Yo tuve el privilegió de contribuir en el congreso con un recuento de la llegada y presencia del protestantismo en México y Cuba. El sociólogo e intelectual mexicano Carlos Martínez García contribuyó en el congreso con un ensayo acerca de Manuel Aguas, el primer sacerdote católico mexicano que se convirtió al protestantismo. Aguas era un influyente sacerdote dominico quien después de su conversión dejo el sacerdocio y fue pastor de una congregación evangélica. Carlos Martínez hace un recuento de su conversión y de una carta del 16 de abril de 1871 en la que relata los pormenores de la misma al superior de la orden dominica, Nicolás Arias. En esta carta, Aguas nos da un ejemplo importante de sus convecciones cristianas y su fe viva en Cristo: ¿He de negaros que soy protestante, es decir, cristiano, y discípulo de Jesús? Nunca, nunca quiero negar a mi Salvador. Muy al contrario, desde el domingo próximo [23 de abril] voy a comenzar a predicar a este Señor Crucificado en el antiguo templo de San José de Gracia. Ojalá que mis conciudadanos acudan a esa Iglesia de verdaderos cristianos. Si así sucede, como lo espero en el Señor, se irá conociendo en mi querida patria la religión santa y sin mezcla de errores, idolatría, ignorancia, supersticiones ni fanatismos; y entonces reinando Jesús en nuestra República, tendremos paz y seremos dichosos. Este resumen general de algunos sucesos históricos mencionados en el congreso y el testimonio claro y firme de Manuel Aguas nos ayudan a entender cómo a pesar de todas las vicisitudes, la reforma de la fe cristiana por fin pudo enraizarse en hispano américa. Los evangélicos o protestantes a lo largo de los años han pasado de ser una minoría perseguida a un segmento importante de la sociedad. El Centro de Investigaciones Pew acaba de publicar los resultados de un estudio exhaustivo de la religión en América Latina. El reporte señala que desde 1900 hasta 1960 el 90% de la población era católica. Sin embargo, en la actualidad solamente el 69% continúan siendo católicos. Uno de cada cinco latinoamericanos (el 19%) son protestantes. Un congreso sobre la Reforma en una universidad pública y prestigiosa como la Complutense, es un acontecimiento inusual pero de enorme significado. El protestantismo ha sido combatido por siglos en España e hispano américa, pero no solamente sobrevivió sino que su influencia ha ido en aumento. Como cristianos somos parte de la obra que Dios ha estado haciendo entre los hispanos y disfrutamos de la libertad que ha muchos de nuestros antepasados les costó la vida. Reyes poderosos suprimieron temporalmente las buenas nuevas de la salvación gratuita por medio del sacrificio de Jesucristo, pero no pudieron erradicarlas por completo. A Constantino y a muchos otros les costó la vida proclamar que esta salvación solamente se obtiene por la fe y que nuestra autoridad principal se basa en las Sagradas Escrituras. Otros como Manuel Aguas tuvieron que defender su fe en medio de mucha oposición. A pesar de todo esto, nuestra fe está viva y el Cristo de ellos, es el mismo que el de nosotros y al que muchos aun necesitan conocer. Este viaje a España para participar en este congreso ha hecho que mi ánimo y fe crezcan y espero este artículo le haya servido con el mismo propósito. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DIRECTIVOS: Platt de la IMB desarrolla una estrategia de cinco puntos by Por Tess Rivers Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. (BP) -- El presidente de IMB, David Platt delineó su plan estratégico de cinco puntos cuando presidió su primera reunión de directivos como presidente de la agencia de misiones. En un plan basado en cinco metas bíblicas el cual lleva a cuatro pasos prácticos y a tres recomendaciones iniciales, Platt ofreció dos importantes recordatorios para alcanzar una meta muy intensa: glorificar a Dios. Las cinco metas basadas en la Biblia de Platt para IMB son: exaltar a Cristo, movilizar a los cristianos, equipar la iglesia, facilitar la plantación de iglesias y "hacer nuestra parte en el cumplimiento de la Gran Comisión," les explicó él a los directivos durante las reuniones del 6 y 7 de noviembre en Olive Branch, Mississippi. "Las misiones no son nuestra vida. Cristo es nuestra vida," dijo Platt. "Deseo guiarnos a amarlo, a disfrutarlo…y a exaltarlo en medio de todos los pueblos." Estos deseos llevaron a Platt a identificar cuatro pasos prácticos para guiar la organización, incluyendo configurar la cultura, agilizar la estrategia, simplificar la estructura y solidificar el liderazgo. "Estamos trabajando y suplicándole a Dios que levante multitudes de obreros," dijo Platt. "Y cuando él lo haga -- y creo que lo está hacienda ahora -- no queremos tener un embudo pequeño por el que la gente tenga que abrirse paso para estar involucrado en IMB para llevar el evangelio a las naciones." En vez de eso, Platt dijo: "queremos simplificar nuestra estructura para poner los veleros para que el viento de Dios sople a su pueblo al mundo." Como resultado, Platt presentó tres recomendaciones personales a los directivos de IMB -- dos requirieron votación -- que describen los movimientos como "de alto nivel, decisiones de altura" diseñados para "establecer el marco" para las subsiguientes decisiones en los días por venir. Primero, los directivos de IMB aprobaron a Sebastian Traeger, innovador y empresario con sede en Washington, D.C., para fungir como vicepresidente ejecutivo de la agencia. Traeger, 40 años, es un anciano en la Iglesia Bautista Capitol Hill en Washington, D.C., y autor del libro: "The Gospel at Work" (El evangelio en acción). Él reemplazará a Clyde Meador, 69 años, quien ha servido en el puesto desde julio de 2003. Meador continuará sirviendo en el equipo de liderazgo de IMB como asesor ejecutivo del presidente. Los directivos también votaron para aprobar a Zane Pratt, 57 años, como vicepresidente de entrenamiento global. Pratt, quien actualmente funge como estratega de IMB en educación teológica para Asia, tienen 21 años de experiencia en misiones de IMB. De 2011 a 2013, Pratt también fungió como decano y profesor asociado de misiones en el Seminario Teológico Bautista Southern en Louisville, Kentucky. Líderes probados Traeger, quien obtuvo su licenciatura en política en la Universidad Princeton, aporta una gran variedad de habilidades y experiencia al puesto de vicepresidente ejecutivo, incluyendo concientización ministerial, probada habilidad de liderazgo, perspicacia para la organización, aptitud financiera y experiencia estratégica, les dijo Platt a los directivos. Como empresario, profesional en negocios y consultor de negocios, Traeger ha cofundado, edificado y vendido varias compañías, incluyendo Village Phone, la cual inició servicios móviles en comunidades rurales en desarrollo en El Salvador; Christianity.com, una plataforma de publicación libre para organizaciones cristianas; Razoo.com, un sitio financiado abiertamente que impulsa pequeños actos de caridad para apoyar una variedad de causas; y Five Street, Inc., que provee gerencia líder de sistemas operativos a la industria residencial de bienes raíces. Además, dijo Platt, Traeger "tiene un fuerte fundamento bíblico y teológico que comunica un entendimiento saludable de la iglesia local y de la misión global y del envolvimiento del cristiano en ambos." Traeger, quien aceptó a Cristo como su Salvador personal cuando tenía 6 años de edad, también acredita su involucramiento en Cruzada Estudiantil y Profesional para Cristo en Princeton y a Atletas en Acción como un hito significativo en su desarrollo espiritual. Desde 1996, ha sido miembro de la Iglesia Bautista Capitol Hill en Washington, D.C., donde actualmente sirve como maestro de Escuela Dominical y anciano. Él y su esposa Nikki tienen tres hijos de 6, 5 y 3 años. "Me siento honrado y privilegiado de que se me haya pedido que sirva en este rol," dijo Traeger. "Es maravilloso cómo Dios me ha dado providencialmente las capacidades y la experiencia para hacer este trabajo." Específicamente, Traeger dijo que cree que su experiencia en liderar innovaciones y su enfoque en "hacer todas las cosas con excelencia como para el Señor" probarán ser útiles cuando Platt busque traer nuevos modelos a la organización de 169 años. "Cuando David comience a dirigir la organización con una visión de levantar más misioneros, formar más equipos e incorporar más profesionales, puedo ver cómo mi experiencia como innovador será útil," dijo Traeger. "Todo mi trabajo es para el Rey, y me siento honrado y emocionado por mi asignación en IMB, donde puedo poner la mano en el arado sirviendo a David, a nuestro personal y a nuestros obreros en el campo." Cuando Traeger entre en funciones en su puesto de vicepresidente ejecutivo, Meador pasará a un nuevo puesto como asesor ejecutivo del presidente. Meador había planteado salir de IMB a una nueva área de ministerio después de la llegada del nuevo presidente, pero Platt le pidió que esperara. "Quiero y necesito la experiencia bíblica y en misiones y la sabiduría personal que existen en Clyde Meador," dijo Platt reconociendo que espera que Meador contribuya en "cada decisión que se haga, cada cambio que sea considerado y cada paso que sea tomado." Enfoque en el entrenamiento Platt recomendó crear el nuevo puesto de vicepresidente de entrenamiento global para supervisar los esfuerzos de entrenamiento de IMB. Platt endosó a Pratt para que llene el puesto con base en "una exclusiva combinación de extensa experiencia en misiones y un profundo acumen teológico." "Quiero estar seguro de que todo lo que somos y todo lo que hagamos esté fundamentado en los fundamentos sólidos como la roca de la Palabra de Dios," dijo Platt. "Quiero que la Palabra de Dios dirija lo que creemos y cómo operamos, el mensaje que proclamamos y los métodos que usamos para proclamarla." Otros negocios En otros negocios, los directivos de IMB: -- Le dieron la bienvenida a 63 nuevos misioneros, que fueron reconocidos en un servicio especial de nombramiento el domingo 9 de noviembre, en la Primera Iglesia Bautista Olive Branch. -- Aprobaron el plan de estrategia de recursos fiscales 2015 en un presupuesto de $301,100.000 como lo presentó David Steverson, tesorero de IMB y vicepresidente de finanzas. -- Recibieron el reporte personal anual 2013 de Dickie Nelson, vicepresidente asociado de personal global, que señaló que en 3.8 por ciento, la deserción misionera alcanzó su nivel más bajo en 15 años. El promedio del índice de deserción de 15 años de IMB es 4.8 por ciento. El promedio nacional para las agencias sin fines de lucro es de cerca de 16 por ciento. -- Recibieron el reporte estadístico anual 2014, el cual resume el trabajo de los misioneros bautistas del sur y sus colaboradores ministeriales en el extranjero en 2013. Más de 1.7 millón de personas oyeron a un testigo del evangelio en 2013. De esos, más de 274.000 se convirtieron y más de 190.000 fueron bautizados. Los misioneros y los creyentes locales con quienes se asociaron comenzaron más de 13.000 nuevas iglesias. -- Oyeron reportes específicos de líderes de estrategia que sirven alrededor del mundo sobre el progreso del evangelio en sus áreas. La próxima reunión de directivos será el 24 y 25de febrero de 2015, en Houston, Texas. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Creyentes en parque de casas móviles 'dan todo lo que tienen' by Por Margaret Colson Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday NOTA DEL EDITOR: La Semana de Oración por las Misiones Internacionales de este año en la Convención Bautista del Sur es del 30 de noviembre al 7 de diciembre con el tema "Un esfuerzo sagrado -- Encuentre su lugar en la historia de Dios" basado en Mateo 28:19, 20. La Ofrenda de Navidad Lottie Moon para las Misiones Internacionales junto con las ofrendas del Programa Cooperativo de las iglesias bautistas del sur sostienen aproximadamente a 4.800 misioneros internacionales que buscan llevar a cabo la Gran Comisión. Las donaciones a la ofrenda Lottie Moon son recibidas a través de las iglesias locales bautistas del sur o en línea a http://www.imb.org/main/lottie-moon/default.asp?cid=lmcop]imb.org/offering, donde hay recursos para promover la ofrenda. Este año la meta es de $175 millones. MONROE, Ga. (BP) -- Ellos son la gente olvidada. Los individuos que tal vez no hayas notado si les pasas al lado en la calle. Ellos están en cada comunidad. En los vecindarios de la periferia salpicados de cercas blancas de madera. Al final de caminos de grava que parece que no van a ninguna parte. Las personas que lavan los trastos en el restaurante de una cadena. Le cambian el aceite a su carro. Baten los huevos de su desayuno en el restaurant local. Ellos son los olvidados para casi todos excepto para Pam Whitehead, quien cariñosamente se refiere a ellos como "mi gente." Su gente vive en Conestoga Mobile Home Park en Monroe, Georgia, donde una casa móvil sirve como base de operaciones de la misionera bautista del sur para ministrar las verdaderas necesidades de su gente cuando ella comparte sobre Jesús. Desesperación y oscuridad Cuando se trata de opciones de vivienda, Conestoga, para muchos, es el último paso antes de quedarse sin un techo. Allí, el camino lleno de baches de la comunidad, la maleza a la altura de la rodilla y las pertenencias de las familias echadas afuera después de cada desahucio parecen reflejar la desesperación y la oscuridad que la mayoría de los residentes de la comunidad han conocido. Solamente hace unos años, la comunidad de casas móviles -- solo a unos pocos kilómetros del encantador y pintoresco centro de la ciudad -- era notable por la violencia, el tráfico de drogas, la transitoriedad, e inclusive los ritos satánicos. No obstante, Pam, maestra de preescolar, y su esposo John, oficial de libertad condicional, fueron inesperadamente atraídos al parque. La pareja, junto con equipos de oración, comenzaron a orar por el parque y sus residentes en 2002. "El Padre abrió las puertas ampliamente a través de dos años y medio de caminatas de oración," dijo Pam. Los Whitehead comenzaron lentamente a establecer relaciones con los residentes y para el 2004 estaban planeando una venta de garaje, una fiesta de barrio, un programa de drogas, una búsqueda de huevos de pascua y un festival familiar de otoño. No le tomó mucho a John, quien una vez había descrito el parque como "el umbral del infierno," decir que el ministerio estaba en su corazón. La pareja continuó ministrando a la gente del parque e hicieron un culto por primera vez en abril de 2005. Todo parecía ir a las mil maravillas hasta cinco días antes de la Navidad de 2010, cuando John Whitehead inesperadamente falleció. Lágrimas de dolor fluían, solamente para ser reemplazadas por lágrimas de gozo, cuando la ahora viuda y madre de cuatro adultos jóvenes, incluyendo a su hijo menor que tienen síndrome de Asperger, sintió el llamado de continuar el ministerio. Los pastores locales comenzaron a turnarse para predicar en la misión los domingos en la mañana; cuando ellos no están disponibles, Pam dirige grupos de estudio bíblico. "Pam es una persona de visión y una persona de compromiso," dijo Allen Hill, director interino de misiones de la Asociación Bautista Appalachee y exmisionero de la Junta de Misiones Internacionales en Filipinas. No apto para cardíacos Lentamente, con la presencia del ministerio en el parque, las condiciones comenzaron a mejorar. "Probablemente todos piensan que las personas de Conestoga no son más que un montón de ladrones, borrachos y drogadictos," dijo Barbara, quien vivió en el parque durante varios meses con su esposo. "Y no lo son. Hay muchas personas cristianas que viven ahí y que hacen lo que pueden para pagar sus cuentas y llevar comida a la mesa, como cualquier otro." No obstante, este ministerio no es para cardíacos. Desde que su esposo murió, Pam ha enfrentado muchos desafíos y frustraciones. Impávida, ella sonríe y llama a cada experiencia "otra aventura." Cuando el techo colapsó en la casa móvil doble donde el ministerio se alojaba, Pam simplemente trasladó la congregación a otra parte. Durante siete meses, los creyentes de Conestoga intermitentemente se reunían afuera o en la casa de un miembro, antes de que les dieran una casa móvil que necesitaba reparaciones para el ministerio -- llamada El Faro en la Misión Conestoga (The Lighthouse at Conestoga Mission). El día que a Pam la mordió el pit bull de una vecina, ella aprovechó la oportunidad para compartir la Palabra de Dios con la dueña del perro, Linda. Fue una pequeña ventana abierta para la intrépida misionera porque Linda se trasladó unas pocas semanas después sin dejar su nueva dirección. Esa es la manera que funciona en el parque. La gente viene; la gente se va; no dan explicaciones; no comunican su nueva dirección. "Nunca puedo decirle a mi gente: 'hasta luego." Simplemente se han ido," dijo Pam. Ella ha aprendido a aprovechar al máximo el tiempo que tiene con los residentes. Durante los pasados 10 años de existencia de la misión, muchos residentes de Conestoga se han hecho cristianos. Inclusive otros se han entregado otra vez a una fe que se había enfriado a través de muchos inviernos duros de la vida. Los cristianos de Conestoga están aprendiendo a tomar lo poco que tienen -- que sería considerado nada por muchos estándares -- y a hacer algo para Dios. Con el ánimo de Pam, los creyentes han "adoptado" a una familia que sirve en Asia del sur con IMB. Ellos oran específicamente por cada miembro de la familia además de por la etnia a la que la familia está tratando de llegar con el evangelio. Dar de la nada "No importa cuáles sean sus circunstancias," dijo Pam. "Aun así se puede tener corazón por los perdidos y las naciones, y se puede actuar de acuerdo a eso, siguiendo al Padre." Desde 2007, El Faro en la Misión de Conestoga, a través del persistente liderazgo de Pam, ha establecido una meta de recoger $100 para la Ofrenda de Navidad Lottie Moon para las Misiones Internacionales. Para estos residentes, eso es enorme, dice Pam. "Quería que la meta fuera una que ellos pudieran alcanzar, pero que fuera desafiante al mismo tiempo," explicó. Aunque generalmente le toma al grupo seis meses para alcanzar la meta, en el 2014 recogieron los $100 en cerca de dos meses y medio; y las ofrendas dadas con sacrificio, generalmente en monedas, continuaron llegando durante unas pocas semanas más. "Uno de los chicos en el parque llegó un día corriendo, gritando y voceando y agitando la mano mientras decía: 'Señora Pam, ¡tengo 50 centavos! ¡Tengo 50 centavos, y la gente al otro lado del océano puede oír sobre Jesús!'" relató la misionera entusiastamente. "Poco es mucho en las manos del Padre," dijo ella. Para finales de abril, las pequeñas monedas dadas por los cristianos de Conestoga sumaron $128, la suma más alta de todos los tiempos. Hill, quien ahora funge como directivo de IMB, comparó la ofrenda dada con sacrificio con "la pequeña cantidad de la viuda del Nuevo Testamento." "Muy frecuentemente damos 'lo que sobra,' pero estas personas dan todo lo que tienen," dijo. Para obtener más historias, fotos y videos de los cristianos de Conestoga y sus ministerios, visite commissionstories.com/conestoga. -------------------------------------------------------------------- La Corte rompe filas, sostiene las prohibiciones sobre el matrimonio by Por Tom Strode Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday WASHINGTON (BP) -- El jueves (6 nov.), una corte federal de apelaciones sostuvo las leyes estatales que se niegan a reconocer el matrimonio entre parejas del mismo sexo, aparentemente preparando el camino para que la Suprema Corte de los EEUU tome una decisión sobre el asunto contencioso que ha evitado abordar hasta ahora. En una opinión de 2-1, un panel de la Corte de Apelaciones del 6º Circuito en Cincinnati rompió filas y falló que cuatro estados -- Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio y Tennessee- no violaban la Constitución de los EEUU al limitar el matrimonio a la unión de un hombre y una mujer. La decisión entra en conflicto con los fallos de otras cortes federales de apelaciones que invalidaron leyes que prohibían el matrimonio entre homosexuales. Las parejas del mismo sexo que perdieron en el fallo pudieran solicitar una revisión "en pleno" del fallo, la cual incluirían a todos los miembros de la Corte del 6º Circuito, o pudieran apelar a la Suprema Corte. Si toman la última ruta y los jueces otorgan la revisión, la Suprema Corte podría emitir una decisión sobre la constitucionalidad del matrimonio gay antes que concluya su sesión actual el próximo verano. Ambos lados de la batalla legal han instado a la Suprema Corte a que emita un fallo sobre este asunto lo antes posible. Los partidarios de la definición bíblica, tradicional del matrimonio elogiaron la opinión del 6º Circuito y la oportunidad que tienen la Suprema Corte para tomar la decisión final. "Aplaudimos la decisión de la Corte del 6º Circuito, cortando la cadena de decisiones de jueces activistas y cortes que han impuesto al público su sistema personal de creencias," dijo Frank S. Page, presidente del Comité Ejecutivo de la Convención Bautista del Sur, en una declaración. "Oramos que la Suprema Corte aborde este asunto y, específicamente, que sostenga la definición del matrimonio como la unión entre un hombre y una mujer." Russell D. Moore, presidente de la Comisión de Ética y Libertad Religiosa, una agencia de la Convención Bautista del Sur, dijo en una declaración escrita, "Esta división del circuito significa que la Suprema Corte no podrá continuar ignorando este asunto. La gente de los estados tienen el derecho de reconocer el matrimonio de la manera en que, virtualmente, toda cultura humana lo hace, como la unión entre un hombre y una mujer. La Suprema Corte debe afirmar su derecho, en los cincuenta estados." Byron Babione, consejero de Alliance Defending Freedom, dijo en una declaración escrita, "Tal como concluyó correctamente el [6º] Circuito, la constitución no exige que se imponga judicialmente encima de todos un punto de vista irreversible sobre el matrimonio. La gente de cada estado debe seguir teniendo la libertad de afirmar en sus leyes que el el matrimonio es la unión de un hombre y una mujer." Un líder partidario del matrimonio entre homosexuales criticó la opinión del 6º circuito y predijo que sería derogada. Evan Wolfson, presidente de Freedom to Marry, dijo que la opinión está "desfasada" con la reciente acción de la Suprema Corte, "desfasada con el mandato constitucional tal como se reconoce en casi todos las cortes estatales y federales en el año pasado, desfasada con la mayoría del pueblo estadounidense. Este fallo anómalo no pasará la prueba del paso del tiempo o la de la apelación." La Suprema Corte se ha negado, hasta ahora, a revisar las apelaciones de las decisiones de las cortes que invalidan las leyes estatales que prohíben el matrimonio gay. Sin embargo, la opinión del 6º Circuito establece un choque en el nivel apelativo que aparentemente esperaban los jueces antes de estar dispuestos a emitir un fallo. Anteriormente, las cortes de los circuitos 4º, 7º, 9º y 10º habían fallado a favor del matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo. El 6 de octubre, la Suprema Corte negó la revisión de las decisiones de las cortes de apelaciones que derogaban las leyes del matrimonio en cinco estados. Esa orden no solamente significaba que el matrimonio gay sería legal en esos cinco estados, si no que por extensión, lo sería en otros seis estados dentro de los mismos circuitos federales. Tal acción –además de un fallo en la corte de apelaciones al día siguiente -- preparó el escenario para que se expandiera la legalización del matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo en 35 estados además del Distrito de Columbia. Antes de esto, ya se había legalizado en 19 estados y el D.C. Dadas sus acciones pasadas, parecería que la Suprema Corte actual no permitiría que hubiera prohibiciones estatales del matrimonio del mismo sexo. La mayoría del 6º Circuito reconoció que la legalización del matrimonio gay parecía inevitable. Parece que "la cuestión no es si la ley estadounidense permitirá que se casen las parejas gay; es cuándo y cómo lo harán," escribió Jeffrey Sutton a nombre de la mayoría de la decisión dividida del 6º circuito. "Eso no hubiera parecido posible hace unos doce años. Para bien, para mal, o para más de lo mismo, el matrimonio ha sido por mucho tiempo una institución social definida por las relaciones entre los hombres y las mujeres. Bajo esta definición, la tradición se mide en milenios, no en siglos o décadas. Tan ampliamente compartida, la tradición había sido adoptada, hasta ahora, por todos los gobiernos y por las mayores religiones del mundo." El panel de tres jueces no tenía la opción de decidir "si el matrimonio gay era una buena idea," escribió Sutton. Al contrario, debe determinar si la Constitución prohíbe que un estado defina al matrimonio como solamente entre un hombre y una mujer, dijo. Los estados tienen el permiso del precedente de la Suprema Corte para definir al matrimonio, dijo Sutton. Es mejor que los electores estatales o las legislaturas determinen un asunto, en lugar de los jueces –en este caso, el matrimonio -- unque tradicionalmente ha estado dentro de su ámbito, explicó. "Cuando las cortes no permiten que el pueblo resuelva los nuevos asuntos sociales, como éste, perpetúan la idea que los héroes en estos eventos de cambio son los jueces y los abogados," dijo Sutton. "Es mejor en esta instancia, pensamos, permitir que el cambio suceda a través de los procesos políticos acostumbrados, en los cuales el pueblo, tanto los homosexuales como los heterosexuales, se convierten en los héroes de sus propias historias al conocerse no como adversarios en un sistema de la corte, si no como ciudadanos que buscan resolver un nuevo problema social de manera más imparcial." La opinión del 6º Circuito se dio después de que casi arrasaran por completo juridicialmente los proponentes del matrimonio gay, en los últimos 17 meses. Las cortes emitieron más de tres docenas de opiniones a favor del matrimonio entre homosexuales desde que los jueces echaran abajo una sección de la Ley Federal de la Defensa del Matrimonio en junio del 2013, diciendo que violaba "la igualdad de protección" bajo la Constitución al negar el reconocimiento del matrimonio entre parejas del mismo sexo. Aunque la Suprema Corte se negó a decir que los estados no podían limitar el matrimonio a las parejas heterosexuales, la mayoría de las cortes han utilizado la decisión como la base para echar por tierra las leyes estales que definen al matrimonio como entre un hombre y una mujer solamente. Sólo un puñado de decisiones de jueces estatales y federales están en conflicto con la tendencia a favor del matrimonio gay. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Subsidio de vivienda sobrevive apelación de la corte by Por Tom Strode Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday CHICAGO (BP) -- Una corte federal de apelaciones ha invalidado una decisión que anulaba el subsidio de vivienda ministerial efectivo durante 60 años en una acción ovacionada por los líderes bautistas del sur. La corte de apelaciones del séptimo circuito de Chicago falló hoy (13 de noviembre) que una organización atea carecía del derecho legal -- conocido como "legitimación procesal" -- para impugnar una porción de una ley de 1954 que le permite a la clerecía excluir con propósitos de impuesto de la renta una porción de todo su ingreso bruto como un subsidio de vivienda. Un panel de tres jueces no falló sobre la constitucionalidad del subsidio sino que unánimemente rechazó una invalidación de la provisión de una juez federal de Wisconsin el noviembre pasado. La corte de apelaciones anuló el fallo de Barbara Crabb y ordenó desestimar la demanda por falta de jurisdicción. Crabb había decretado que el subsidio viola la prohibición de la Primera Enmienda del establecimiento de la religión por parte del estado. La administración Obama apeló la decisión de ella ante la Corte del Séptimo Distrito. Russell D. Moore, presidente de la Comisión de Libertad Religiosa y Ética, afirmó la decisión de la corte de apelaciones diciéndole a Baptist Press que el "subsidio ministerial de vivienda es justo, y un reconocimiento equitativo de la situación singular de empleo de un clérigo." O.S. Hawkins, presidente de Recursos Financieros GuideStone, dijo sobre la decisión: " Ciertamente estas son buenas noticias para los ministros. "Durante décadas, ha habido un reconocimiento de que el subsidio de vivienda de un ministro es un beneficio vital que es consistente con nuestra Constitución," dijo Hawkins en una divulgación escrita de GuideStone, la entidad financiera y de beneficios de salud de la CBS. "Estamos agradecidos por la defensa del gobierno del subsidio de vivienda…y agradecidos con la corte de apelaciones por su decisión en este asunto." Hawkins añadió: "Estamos conscientes de que este podría no ser el último caso de este tipo. Junto con nuestros compañeros [de ERLC] y nuestros compañeros de ministerio en la comunidad de beneficios de la denominación, continuaremos vigilantes para abogar a favor de los pastores." El panel del séptimo circuito, en su fallo, dijo que este no aborda el asunto de la constitucionalidad del subsidio de vivienda debido a que la Fundación de la Libertad de Religión (FFRF por sus siglas en inglés) y sus codemandantes no calificaron para presentar la demanda. Los demandantes dicen que "ellos tienen legitimación procesal porque se les ha negado un beneficio (una exención de impuestos por la provisión de su empleador de subsidio de vivienda) que está condicionado a afiliación religiosa," escribió el juez Joel Flaum para el panel. "Este argumento falla, sin embargo, por una simple razón: a los demandantes nunca se les negó la exención de la casa parroquial o pastoral porque nunca la pidieron. Sin una solicitud, no puede haber negativa. Y estando ausente cualquier negativa personal de un beneficio, la demanda de los demandantes se suma a nada más que a una querella generalizada acerca de la constitucionalidad [del subsidio], que no apoya la legitimación procesal." La decisión "es una gran victoria para la separación de la iglesia y el estado," dijo Luke Goodrich, consejero general adjunto de la Fundación Becket para la Libertad Religiosa. "Durante 60 años, el subsidio de la casa parroquial o pastoral ha mantenido al recaudador de impuestos alejado de perder el tiempo en complejos asuntos religiosos," dijo Goodrich en una divulgación escrita. "Nadie quiere que el Servicio Interno Fiscal (IRS por sus siglas en inglés) grave a las iglesias por el capricho de ateos que no arriesgan su pellejo." Los bautistas del sur estaban entre los numerosos partidarios religiosos especialmente interesados en el caso. La Comisión de Libertad Religiosa y Ética y la Junta de Misiones Internacionales firmaron un amicus curiae (amigo de la corte) presentado por la Fundación Becket con una diversa gama de organizaciones religiosas en apoyo del subsidio de la vivienda. GuideStone se unió a la petición con otras juntas de beneficio de denominación como parte de la Alianza Eclesiástica. En su sitio web, GuideStone describe el subsidio de vivienda como "el beneficio de impuesto más importante disponible para los ministros." El subsidio ha sido especialmente útil en las congregaciones pequeñas porque sus pastores o ministros -- quienes generalmente reciben salarios más bajos -- se benefician de que parte de su ingreso sea exento de impuestos. Bajo el sistema federal de impuesto a la renta, algunos costos de vivienda son principalmente para "la conveniencia del empleador," no del empleado. Como resultado, tales costos no son considerados ingresos. Además de los ministros, aquellos que reciben tales beneficios incluyen a los miembros del ejército de EE.UU., trabajadores que viven en el extranjero y empleados de instituciones educativas. Un estimado del 2002 ofrecido por el representante Jim Ramstad de Minnesota dijo que el subsidio les ahorraría a los ministros $2.3 billones en impuestos durante los siguientes cinco años. Al publicar su decisión el año pasado, Crabb bloqueó la implementación del decreto hasta que el proceso de apelación fuera completado. La decisión de Crabb llegó de sorpresa. En 2010, ella decretó que el Día Nacional de Oración viola la cláusula de establecimiento. Un panel de tres jueces del séptimo circuito unánimemente derogó el fallo de Crabb el año siguiente. La corte de apelaciones decretó en ese caso también que la Fundación de la Libertad Religiosa no tenía legitimación procesal para presentar la demanda. El caso decidido el 13 de noviembre es FFRF v. Lew. La FFRF, la cual tiene su sede en Madison, Wisconsin, demandó al IRS en relación al subsidio de vivienda. Jacob Lew es el secretario del Departamento de Tesoro. -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL: Reflexiones del pasado y presente sobre la Reforma en Hispano América by Por Octavio Javier Esqueda Date: November 14, 2014 - Friday LA MIRADA, Calif. -- Hace unos días tuve el privilegio de participar en el IV Congreso sobre la Reforma Protestante Española que tuvo lugar en la Facultad de Filosofía de la Universidad Complutense en Madrid, España. Este importante congreso internacional tuvo como tema principal la Reforma en Hispano América. Entre los participantes se encontraban profesores, historiadores y eruditos para dialogar acerca de la influencia del protestantismo en América Latina y su relación con la reforma española. Aunque el número de participantes no eran tan numeroso, el significado de esta reunión y los temas tratados son de suma importancia y son relevantes para nuestros días. Me gustaría compartir en este espacio algunas reflexiones sobre el pasado y el presente basadas principalmente en los temas tratados en este congreso. Antes del inicio del congreso pude pasar una tarde conociendo la bella ciudad de Segovia, al noroeste de Madrid. Segovia es la capital de la provincia de Castilla y León y es un lugar con muchos siglos de historia. Fue cuna y sede de muchos reyes importantes como Alfonso X, el Sabio, e Isabel la Católica quien fue proclamada reina de Castilla el 13 de diciembre de 1474. Al casarse con el rey Fernando de Aragón lograron unificar sus reinos y eventualmente conquistar al reino nazarí de Granada y expulsar de España a los judíos y árabes. De esta manera, impusieron el castellano como idioma y el catolicismo como la religión oficial. De hecho, el Papa Alejandro VI les otorgó el título de "Católicos" por lo que se les conoce como los "Reyes Católicos". Al patrocinar el viaje de Cristóbal Colón que lo llevó a "descubrir" el continente americano, estos reyes promovieron la llegada del catolicismo a hispano américa y lo convirtieron en la única religión oficial. Esta situación continuó así por más de tres siglos en la mayoría de los países hispanoamericanos. El Rey Carlos I de lo que ahora es España, nieto de los Reyes Católicos, también fue Carlos V, Emperador del Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico. A este rey le tocó el surgimiento del Protestantismo en Alemania guiado por Martín Lutero. Al ver que Alemania y muchas partes de Europa empezaron a sufrir la división entre católicos y protestantes, el emperador Carlos decidió "blindar" a España del protestantismo y las ideas luteranas. La Inquisición fue el instrumento del Estado para evitar que los luteranos, como se les conocía a los protestantes, pudieran surgir en España y sus colonias. Durante el congreso, la historiadora Alicia Mayer presentó su libro "Lutero en el Paraíso" en el que documenta cómo para el gobierno y la iglesia española la ausencia del protestantismo significaba proteger al que creían era un paraíso en donde el catolicismo romano reinaba sin ninguna oposición. Constantino Ponce de la Fuente fue uno de los principales reformadores españoles. Fue el canónigo predicar de la Catedral de Sevilla, además de profesor de Biblia y capellán del emperador Carlos V. Al estudiar la Biblia se convenció que la salvación que Jesucristo ofrece es solamente por la gracia divina y que se recibe por la fe y no por obras. Constantino fue uno de los líderes de la iglesia secreta cristiana en Sevilla hasta que fue descubierto por la Inquisición. Murió antes que se terminara su juicio por lo que cuando éste concluyó, sus restos fueron exhumados para después ser quemados en la hoguera mediante un juicio público conocido como auto de fe. Constantino escribió varios libros entre los que destaca su Doctrina Cristiana. El profesor José Luis Villacañas hizo una excelente exposición acerca de cómo el primer obispo de la Nueva España, Juan de Zumárraga, divulgó la Doctrina Cristiana de Constantino, sin darle crédito por cierto, como un instrumento para la evangelización de los indígenas. Esta Doctrina enfatizaba que el eje fundamental para la transmisión de la fe cristiana era los padres, incluso con la ayuda de algún tutor si fuera necesario y no las instituciones formales. De esta manera, a través de Zumárraga las ideas teológicas del reformador Constantino fueron esparcidas en México aunque haya sido por un poco de tiempo. No fue sino hasta después de la independencia de los países hispano americanos de España que poco a poco el protestantismo fue abriéndose paso en las sociedades que solamente conocían el catolicismo romano como la única religión permitida. De hecho, por ejemplo, en México no fue sino hasta la constitución de 1857 que se permitió la libertad de culto y el catolicismo dejó de ser la religión oficial. En Cuba esto no sucedió sino hasta 1898 al finalizar la guerra de independencia contra España y Cuba estuvo por un tiempo bajo el control de los Estados Unidos. Yo tuve el privilegió de contribuir en el congreso con un recuento de la llegada y presencia del protestantismo en México y Cuba. El sociólogo e intelectual mexicano Carlos Martínez García contribuyó en el congreso con un ensayo acerca de Manuel Aguas, el primer sacerdote católico mexicano que se convirtió al protestantismo. Aguas era un influyente sacerdote dominico quien después de su conversión dejo el sacerdocio y fue pastor de una congregación evangélica. Carlos Martínez hace un recuento de su conversión y de una carta del 16 de abril de 1871 en la que relata los pormenores de la misma al superior de la orden dominica, Nicolás Arias. En esta carta, Aguas nos da un ejemplo importante de sus convecciones cristianas y su fe viva en Cristo: ¿He de negaros que soy protestante, es decir, cristiano, y discípulo de Jesús? Nunca, nunca quiero negar a mi Salvador. Muy al contrario, desde el domingo próximo [23 de abril] voy a comenzar a predicar a este Señor Crucificado en el antiguo templo de San José de Gracia. Ojalá que mis conciudadanos acudan a esa Iglesia de verdaderos cristianos. Si así sucede, como lo espero en el Señor, se irá conociendo en mi querida patria la religión santa y sin mezcla de errores, idolatría, ignorancia, supersticiones ni fanatismos; y entonces reinando Jesús en nuestra República, tendremos paz y seremos dichosos. Este resumen general de algunos sucesos históricos mencionados en el congreso y el testimonio claro y firme de Manuel Aguas nos ayudan a entender cómo a pesar de todas las vicisitudes, la reforma de la fe cristiana por fin pudo enraizarse en hispano américa. Los evangélicos o protestantes a lo largo de los años han pasado de ser una minoría perseguida a un segmento importante de la sociedad. El Centro de Investigaciones Pew acaba de publicar los resultados de un estudio exhaustivo de la religión en América Latina. El reporte señala que desde 1900 hasta 1960 el 90% de la población era católica. Sin embargo, en la actualidad solamente el 69% continúan siendo católicos. Uno de cada cinco latinoamericanos (el 19%) son protestantes. Un congreso sobre la Reforma en una universidad pública y prestigiosa como la Complutense, es un acontecimiento inusual pero de enorme significado. El protestantismo ha sido combatido por siglos en España e hispano américa, pero no solamente sobrevivió sino que su influencia ha ido en aumento. Como cristianos somos parte de la obra que Dios ha estado haciendo entre los hispanos y disfrutamos de la libertad que ha muchos de nuestros antepasados les costó la vida. Reyes poderosos suprimieron temporalmente las buenas nuevas de la salvación gratuita por medio del sacrificio de Jesucristo, pero no pudieron erradicarlas por completo. A Constantino y a muchos otros les costó la vida proclamar que esta salvación solamente se obtiene por la fe y que nuestra autoridad principal se basa en las Sagradas Escrituras. Otros como Manuel Aguas tuvieron que defender su fe en medio de mucha oposición. A pesar de todo esto, nuestra fe está viva y el Cristo de ellos, es el mismo que el de nosotros y al que muchos aun necesitan conocer. Este viaje a España para participar en este congreso ha hecho que mi ánimo y fe crezcan y espero este artículo le haya servido con el mismo propósito.